I think I'm going to have to disagree a bit with my Longhorn teamates Mr. Commings and The Raz on this subject. It's not good to rely on someone coming out of the woodwork in years to come or simply counting on cycles of ebb and flow over years in the sport.
I have been to many age group meets with my kids the last 4 years. In Georgia, Colorado.... and my home the Great state of Ohio, and enrollment of young boys (ages 8-14) is down further than at any time I can remember in the sport. Gone are the days when I grew up and boys ALWAYS outnumber girls in the sport, and its not merely because more girls are swimming now. It's because boys are interested in other sports..... many of which are easier training sports in my opinion.
This is NOT good for the future of men's swimming. I have a bad feeling the next Michael Phelps will be lured into Soccer or some other sport over the coming years... if not already. Swimming.... particularly the governing body USS.... does NOT do an adequate job marketing the sport to the general public during non Olympic years. We ride too heavily on the success of our Olympic performances in hopes of expanding enrollment, and then every 4 years it dies out quickly. With the added cuts of men's swimming programs in the NCAA Div. I level the growth and continued success of US mens swimming in my opinion is in jeopardy over the next 8-12 years. Michael Phelps is a lucky find for the US. I strongly suggest you take a look at some heat sheets for age group meets in your area. You will likely find that there are about 1/2 to 2/3rds the number of boys heats compared to girls heats in the younger age groups. It's shocking. You're looking at the future of our Olympic team in these reduced heats. You can't rely on a Rowdy Gaines to come into the sport late (like age 13) and dominate especially when the numbers are down so much.
USS needs to find money for a larger national campaign with TV time. Why is it I have NEVER been contacted by USS swimming to donate money?! Why is there NO marketing campaign to solicit funds from ex US swimmers from the past 40 years ?!
In my opinion, this is an all out war against soccer and the evil Big 3 sports. For example...... Australia is hurtin' if you take away their 2 big guns Hacket and Thorpe, there is virtually no one in the pipeline that will take over. The US is in a similar but lessor position. It was truly embarassing that the US had absolutely NO ONE in the 100 free at the Olympics. Let me say it again....
IT WAS TRULY EMBARASSING THAT THE US HAD ABSOLUTELY NO ONE IN THE 100 FREE IN THE FINALS AT THE OLYMPICS !
We should OWN that event ! The 100 free IS United States Swimming. It is our history! Our 400m free relay should NEVER lose at the Olympics or World Games as it is a reflection of depth and speed in our programs.
Face it, our volume of great sprinters are pretty bad right now and thats a reflection of basic athleticism and talent by taking (stealing) "athletes" from other sports with raw speed. Gary Hall saved his butt and the US in the 50 free at Greece, but let's face it, he's an archeology find and not a reflection of up an coming talent. We're relying on someone that probably peaked 2 Olympics ago in the sprints.
The picture is not good for the growth of US men's swimming, and we definitely need to do something about it.
John Smith
Parents
Former Member
What John is saying is spot on. We are horrible at marketing this sport. I am also one who is amazed that US Swimming has never run a capital campaign to raise money for promotion of the sport.
The question is, once the money is raised, how do you go about promoting it?
I think for one thing, we can follow Golf's example. In the past 15 years golf has become one of the most popular sports and is immensly more popular among kids and adults than tennis is. I think we can all remember in the 70's and 80's how tennis was more popular.
A superstar like a Phelps could definitely be promoted like Tiger has been the past 10 years. Tiger has helped take golf to a wider, more diverse audience. Yes, we have to train a lot more and I know Phelps has been taken away from training since 2004, but I know something could be done with our superstars to promote the sport to an uninformed public.
As a parent myself, I would love for my kids to learn WHY these people are so successful. Hard work, VO2 Max development (I couldn't resist), discipline, mental toughness, and dedication are lessons I want my children to learn. You can't put a price tag on that.
Yes, we would love more TV time, but as it has been said many times before, swimming is boring to most people. Golf was also about 15 years ago, now we have a TV station dedicated totally to golf. I play golf and I think the Golf Channel is pretty boring myself!
This needs to be a grassroots effort to communicate to kids and parents alike the benefits of swimming for life. We are never going to win the money game.
If you want to make meets more exciting, follow the sumer league model. In Phoenix, my kids swim in the Country Club league (they are too young for USS). The meets are on Wednesday night, the kids have a ball and the parents have much social interaction. Amazingly enough, they even serve alcohol to the parents there, so it's kind of like a big party!
A dual meet format such as this with local clubs, schools, etc. really seems to get all people involved.
One last thing. It has been said that swimming is great because you get to train with the girls. I totally disagree with this. Tell me if it considered "macho" among teens for boys and girls to do the same workouts. They don't do it in any other sport. Can you imagine how a co-ed basketball practice might be thought of? I think an all-male swim team looks much tougher, perception wise, and boys will be allowed to be boys more than they could in a co-ed practice. I am not sexist, please understand. I just think teen age boys have an opinion that it is considered more macho not to have girls in the practice.
Just my two cents worth...
What John is saying is spot on. We are horrible at marketing this sport. I am also one who is amazed that US Swimming has never run a capital campaign to raise money for promotion of the sport.
The question is, once the money is raised, how do you go about promoting it?
I think for one thing, we can follow Golf's example. In the past 15 years golf has become one of the most popular sports and is immensly more popular among kids and adults than tennis is. I think we can all remember in the 70's and 80's how tennis was more popular.
A superstar like a Phelps could definitely be promoted like Tiger has been the past 10 years. Tiger has helped take golf to a wider, more diverse audience. Yes, we have to train a lot more and I know Phelps has been taken away from training since 2004, but I know something could be done with our superstars to promote the sport to an uninformed public.
As a parent myself, I would love for my kids to learn WHY these people are so successful. Hard work, VO2 Max development (I couldn't resist), discipline, mental toughness, and dedication are lessons I want my children to learn. You can't put a price tag on that.
Yes, we would love more TV time, but as it has been said many times before, swimming is boring to most people. Golf was also about 15 years ago, now we have a TV station dedicated totally to golf. I play golf and I think the Golf Channel is pretty boring myself!
This needs to be a grassroots effort to communicate to kids and parents alike the benefits of swimming for life. We are never going to win the money game.
If you want to make meets more exciting, follow the sumer league model. In Phoenix, my kids swim in the Country Club league (they are too young for USS). The meets are on Wednesday night, the kids have a ball and the parents have much social interaction. Amazingly enough, they even serve alcohol to the parents there, so it's kind of like a big party!
A dual meet format such as this with local clubs, schools, etc. really seems to get all people involved.
One last thing. It has been said that swimming is great because you get to train with the girls. I totally disagree with this. Tell me if it considered "macho" among teens for boys and girls to do the same workouts. They don't do it in any other sport. Can you imagine how a co-ed basketball practice might be thought of? I think an all-male swim team looks much tougher, perception wise, and boys will be allowed to be boys more than they could in a co-ed practice. I am not sexist, please understand. I just think teen age boys have an opinion that it is considered more macho not to have girls in the practice.
Just my two cents worth...
